The Lion Lord: Revenge of the Roar
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: He was supposed to be destined for great things, but when Kion learns the terrible truth of his older brother, things go much differently then anyone thought possible.
1. The Downwind Dodger

**I.**

The sun cresting the dark golden grasslands sent long rays of light over the still blades. A dark figure moved past them, creating a solid shadow as he did.

 _So many days have passed_ , the lion thought as he moved through the grasses that had grown to cover the borders of the Pridelands in his absence. He took a moment to pause and raise his mane-curved head up to get a better look. Everything was dry and brittle from the passing summer and autumn showed itself in almost every inch of the Pridelands up to the trees.

Kion started to smile and the black of mohawk mane grew red at the tips. A rustle and he jerked his head back, a growl rippling out from between his teeth. He felt his eyes grow wide, shocked, then he composed himself as four figures appeared with the setting sun.

 _Well, five if you count Ono,_ Kion thought with a smirk, noting the tall bird perched on the largest form. A lion twice his size crouched forward with a cheetah and a badger making at his flanks. The large hippopotamus stood towards the center behind the lion, disapproval in his violet-blue eyes. Kion looked from side-to-side.

If tried for left, he'd have the strength over Fuli. Going backwards wasn't an option; the two fastest members would just cut him off. Forward...? No. If the new lion didn't get him, Besthe would. No, 15-month-old Kion knew this could happen. But he wouldn't surrender.

Not yet.

"Sizing us up, O' Forsaken leader?" Fuli asked.

He perked an ear her way, but didn't focus on her. She sounded so much older! Kion wondered how awkward it was for a hippo and egret to be out so late at night while taking care not to look at Bunga.

"Kion," Kopa rose out of the grass. His mane had thickened like his voice; it was so much like Dad's Kion almost gagged. "You've been warned that the penalty for another trespass is your life, a full year's passing makes no difference and you need to leave."

He suspected as much, but it was still hard to hear.

"Really?" Kion gave him a crooked grin in the settling dusk, the red sun melting into the trees glinting like pinpoints of rubies off of him. "I thought that was just a ploy to keep me from trying to run off with Tiifu," he almost laughed. "You gotta admit, that's kinda funny."

No one thought it was funny.

"You're trespassing on private property," Fuli said.

"And Simba made it clear, all _Outlanders_ are _out._ "

Kion wrinkled his muzzle at the egret.

"If wasn't for _me,_ you wouldn't even _be_ here."

"Having second thoughts?" Bunga stood up on his hind feet. Kion looked unsure as he acknowledged him for the first time. "Because we're not taking any new openings... _but_ ," he flashed his glinting claws, "I wouldn't mind giving you some new ones, old chum."

Kion gave him a guttural warning and was advanced on in the next moment. He stumbled over his paws to back away in time. _You don't have the gall,_ he thought, but instead lowered his head slightly and inhaled deeply.

"I thought you guys might want to know something... something that's much more dangerous then a clan of kooky hyenas. That's why I need to talk to Dad..."

He inclined his head to the dark shape of Pride Rock.

The Guard immediately moved to cut off his line of vision. They would stand in his way until they died; the poor, diluted saps. Kion crinkled his red nose in distaste and arced his body away from them, trying with exaggerated casualness to view his southeast.

"You're not welcomed here." Kopa told him.

"That's never going to change," Besthe added.

"What about what I need to tell him?" Kion asked.

"Whatever it is, it'll be a LIE." Bunga lashed out.

Everyone looked at him questioningly, Kopa grunted.

As everyone got in place the bigger of the two lions approached his brother head on. Kion checked the faces of his old friends to see if they would stop him.

They just continued to glare at him.

Kion lowered his ears back and growled furiously at the older male. The midnight blue evening enveloped them and if Kopa killed him now, Kion knew without one single doubt where he would be going. He went into a half-submissive pose, never backing away but ready to lunge at the right moment for his throat; just like the hyenas had taught. His old friends would be on him in seconds, but Kopa would be the first to go.

The yearling cub felt his eyes sting as he readied himself.

Kopa stopped just over him and stared down coldly into the shivering child's bright red eyes. There was no love or hatred, just impassive understanding.

For one so young himself, Kopa had learned of the endless war that was paranoia and the inevitabilites that followed through misunderstanding. He closed his eyes. "Kion," the lion said as quietly and as tenuously as a levelheaded parent might say, "You need to leave."

Kion took a breath and backed away from him; his head barely cleared Kopa's chin. The lion was still stoic as he opened his eyes and watched him now.

"You need to leave," he said with implicit calmness as the rest of the Guard joined him again. "Forever."

"You'll regret this," Kion warned them as darkness completely fell. "Something's coming that's going to stop you all. You _need_ to listen to me or you'll die!"

All the animals hissed and chattered.

Besthe bellowed out, "Leave... _NOW_."

Kion watched as he pumped out his chest.

"Fine," he spat. The lion looked at Bunga once.

" _What_?" He spat back.

"Zuka Zama?" Kion offered, not trying to be an ass.

The badger just wrinkled his own nose and looked away. He growled under his breath as Kion told him that this was one of the reasons why he left. The lion traitor then followed their advice and did this again. It was hard for two of them to make out, but soon they all saw Kion's scrawny form ambling up a tall slope.

"All the way!" Kopa called out.

As the last remnants of blue light faded into darkness over his image, Bunga puffed out his furry chest, "If I know Kion, he comes back fighting. Maybe I should-,"

" _No_ ," Kopa cut him off, "Even without his roar, if he's got the hyenas backing him, we'll still need to stand together. Divided..." he trailed off as they stared into the ominous gloom. This was the day they'd dreaded.

Because more then a year ago, they would've never believed this could happen. Everything had been different then:

Kion was still good.

To be continued...


	2. Big Brother: Pt 1 of 2

**I.** 1 year earlier...

A baobab fruit went flying into a fissure in the Pridelands.

"Got it!" Kion jumped into the jagged opening.

"No, you don't!" Kiara rushed in after him.

Before they began their headlong descent, a larger cub with golden fur and a strip of brown mane clasped onto the only part of the lioness cub not completely underground. It didn't take the pair long to realize their mistake was huge. Slowly, Kion lifted his paws off his eyes and gaped at the darkness.

What was stopping him from falling?

He looked up at his sister who surprisingly had _him_ by the tail, who in turn looked up at a clearly unhappy big brother.

"Can you knuckleheads cool it for a while?" The lion said between grit teeth, his gripping claws anchoring all of them.

Kopa then proceeded to toss them back over the edge with Kiara landing on the ground first, followed by Kion landing in her arms. They turned their shocked eyes on Kopa, then upon each other, before finally struggling in vain to get free.

The ten-month-old cub watched in bemusement.

"Uh... Kiara? Isn't there something you want to say to your little brother?" She looked over at the red-tufted cub at this. "And Kion," Said cub looked up, "Don't you want to thank your big sister for catching you?" Kion looked at her warily.

They opened their mouths, thought better of it and quickly turned up their noses. " _Hmph_!" The cubs refused in unison. Ever since Kiara's growth spurt, their rivalry knew no end.

Kopa sighed, discouraged.

"You're lucky to have each other, you know that right?"

Kion and Kiara turned to glare at each other.

"Everyone! _Everyone_! Listen... Simba and Nala are going to a meeting outside the Pridelands and they've asked The Lion Guard to watch Pride Rock!" Bunga ran up to them.

"Oh..." Kion's ears lowered.

"Oh," Kiara nuzzled him. "Sorry, _little brother_."

"That's okay, Kiara. Because I've asked Mom and we're going to spend the day at my place..." Kopa eyed Kion a little uncertainly. "But, if you've got Lion Guard duties..."

"No!" Kion leapt at the chance. "Uh... I mean, do you think the others can handle watching the Pridelands for a while?"

Bunga could barely contain his grin at being included.

"Yeah," he waved it off. "They can handle it."

...

Fuli, Besthe and Ono laid inside Pride Rock, bored.

"Hey," the hippo said. "Who wants to play Royal Family?"

"Okay, I'll be Nala." Fuli sat up, smiling.

"I'll be Kion!" Ono quickly claimed.

Besthe frowned. "I wanna be Kion, you can be Simba."

The cheetah rolled her eyes. "Better than being Kiara."

"True."

"I heard that."

All three laughed.

...

Kopa smiled at Bunga and to Kion it seemed his eyes went straight to Kiara. "Let's go then," he started to lead them to his home. Kion was about to ask where that was but Bunga clipped him once over the head, inclining the cub to forget his worries and give chase. This was a good day to be free.

To be continued...


	3. Big Brother: Pt 2 of 2

**A/N:** This is a fairly light-hearted chapter. Things are going to get darker next chapter, though. Thanks!

 **I.**

"Welcome..." Kopa held some tropical leaves back. "To my _home_." His younger siblings approached to see a fantastic waterfall spewing great, white gushes of water that was encompassed inside a lush, endless forest. The cubs and badger noticed many zigzagging streams feed by the waterfall that fanned out the land.

"How did I not know about this?" Kion asked.

"Better then the little pool behind Pride Rock?" His older brother grinned at him. Kion nodded. "Thank you, Kubwa." The lion said to their elephant escort.

He trumpeted back at Kopa and left.

"Hevi Kabisa..." Kion said in further awe.

"That was my reaction, too," Kopa laughed. "Come on," he continued as Kiara edged her way in front of him and caught his attention. "I'll show you around."

Kion glared at Kiara as she backed herself purposely around their older brother. The cub was about to say something when Bunga leapt up on his head and took both his ears, smiling. Kion smiled back and let it go.

There would be plenty of time to get to know Kopa.

...

As they entered further down into the lush canopy, the three younger animals noticed merekats were up in the thick trees. Some swung from the leafed vines, while others lounged about or dove into a part of the waterfall base that wasn't swarthed in foam. Curiosity abounded as Kiara, Kion and Bunga looked around.

The three exchanged uncertain looks as Kopa arrived at a well-constructed outcrop draped in long leaves and bordering a soft, mossy bed. A grayish-tan form slept in the center. Kopa turned to them with a grin, then turned back, "Hello, Uncle Max!" He annouced.

"Uncle Max" humorously awoke with a fright and his harried expression caused the children concern. "No, _no Timon_! DON'T TOUCH THE-, _Oh_!" He came to. "Kopa!" The elderly merekat chuckled in relief. "It's just you..." They shared a laugh as he whacked him.

"Sorry, Uncle M." He apologized sheepishly.

"Oh-ho-ho! Hoonie Matootie." Uncle Max patted the lion's arm. "You're always a welcomed sight! As long as you're not that nightmare fuel Timon, I think I'll-,"

"Timon's my uncle!" Bunga popped up.

" _Sweet mayhem!?_ "

"Uncle Max... Uncle Max, it's cool. It's _okay_!"

The frightened animal grimanced at him.

"Uncle Max," Kopa turned to the cub who came to stand beside him. "This is my sister, Kiara, princess of the Pridelands. And my little brother," He glanced briefly at the cub, "Kion, leader of The Lion Guard."

"Oh!" Kopa said as Bunga popped up again.

"Heh-heh." The badger grinned.

"And... _Bunga_." Kopa smiled back a little uneasily.

"I didn't know they'd made it offical," The wrinkled old merekat muttered to himself, "Ho-ho, well... any family of Kopa's is family of ours," he took Kiara by her paw and kissed it; Kion and Bunga bit their lips.

"Come on," Kopa motioned with his brown-striped head, his orange-brown eyes excited. "I wanna show you how the _other_ Pridelanders live around here..."

Kiara and Bunga immediately joined him, but Kion lingered behind. The cub looked down in thought and then out at the merekats going about their seemingly carefree lives. Something wasn't right about this, why did his older brother live here?Kion tried to ask him.

"Let's go, Kion!" Bunga called from up ahead.

Kion raised his ears and was about to call to Kopa when he noticed a plump lady merekat leering with suspicion at him, her arms crossed. "Can I help you?"

"Uh..." Kion edged away from her. "No, thank you."

He ran to catch up with the others.

"Well, come by this afternoon for some dinner! You look thinner then my Timmy," she waved after him.

Kion had to talk to Kopa.

By the time he caught up to Bunga, his older sister was already talking his ear off. Kion tried to make himself bigger, hoping that Kopa would spot him. But Kiara shot him a glare and sped up her pace.

 _What_?! Why was Kopa ignoring him?

Kion sighed and hoped that Bunga hadn't noticed.

...

"So I noticed you were kinda down back there, bro."

Bunga suddenly made note as all four of them came to a stop at the crest of the second highest waterfall in Merekat Metropolis, or so the locals referred to it as.

"It's okay, Bunga." Kion assured him. "I just think it's kind of weird my dad never mentioned Kopa to me-,"

"Hey, look!" The badger pointed out. "It's my Uncle Timon and Uncle Pumbaa! I'll see ya later, brother."

"Later brother." He said despondently.

"So what're we doing here Kopa?" Kiara asked.

Kion looked over to see the two looking down the foamy falls. The older lion smirked at her. "Oh... I don't know," he looked over to the side, "Maybe... _this_!" he pushed her over the top and jumped in after her. Surprised, the younger lion raced after them and leapt over the falls as well. The three sped down fast.

Kiara laughed in delight as Kopa pressed her to his chest and the two luged down what was actually one of the many curving streams. Kion started to build up a scream when he saw this as a chance to catch Kopa.

Grinning, he tilted himself forward and raised out his paws when he got close enough in the jerky, random parts of the stream. He was finally inches from Kopa when he heard, "Zuka... _ZAMAAAA_!" Bunga pounced.

Kion flailed around as the badger pushed him back in his bid to propel himself forward and grab Kopa. The lion let out a "GAAAH!" and Kiara screamed at him.

Bunga flung himself in front of the lioness and cried out in joy as she grabbed him. Kion tried to get close enough to jump on Kopa himself when the four went hurtling and splashing into the basin residing below.

The quad was drenched in foam and water as they all surfaced. Kion pushed his red mane back and looked down to see that he sat on top of Kopa's stringy head.

Kiara looked between him and Bunga. "Nice work," she said sarcastically as she pushed the badger back. "Kion, _get off of him_!" The lioness snarled up at her mortified brother. "Kopa? Kopa! Are you okay? Did they hurt you?! KION!" He went to stand by Bunga.

Kopa took his dark golden paw and pushed back up on his mane, glaring at Kion. He slowly lifted a paw stub to point at him. The cub wilted but Kopa shook his head. Nervously, Kion looked over his shoulder.

His brother gestured for him to move and when he was out of the way, Bunga looked up in confusion. The badger was entirely soaked. Finally he got that something was happening and pushed up the fur over his eyes. He saw Kopa pointing at him and searched around himself to find out who he meant. Then, his head snapped up and he pointed at himself curiously.

"You mean me?"

Kopa smiled and nodded slowly:

"That... was AWESOME!" he grabbed the badger up and tossed him in the air. "Hahaha! That's _exactly_ the kind of vibe I like. What's your style called, lil' guy?"

"Uh... Zuka Zama?"

"Hahaha! _I love it_. Zuka Zama... Hakuna Matata!"

"That's what I said!" Bunga jumped up and shot an excited look over at his other friends. "So what'd ya wanna do now, Kopa? Wanna go find a milipede!?"

"How 'bout a centipede?" The lion asked.

"YEAH!"

"Boy," Kiara smirked over at Kion. "And I thought _I_ didn't wanna hang out with you," she noticed his look of defiance. "Bunga _is_ more fun then you. I think it's best you just go hang out with Timon and Pumbaa..."

Kion glared after her as she ran to catch up. The cub sighed. There just _had_ to be a way to get his cooler, older brother to like him. Even if it meant Kion could never learn why Dad had never told him about Kopa.

To be continued...


	4. Night before the Nightmare

**I.** Evening in Meerkat Metropolis...

The hyena moved through grasses of the jungle with her head down low; she had to prove her competence, there was no room for error. If her uncles thought she couldn't handle this, they would take over and Asante's thin hold on the ravenous, unpredictable clan would be over. She had to maintain whatever control she had over them, or else they'd bring the entire Circle of Life to pieces again.

…

Night had fallen over the jungle and swooning meerkats were all hanging about in the treetops like monkeys. The late fall made it the wrong time for fireflies, but that didn't stop the meerkats from plucking up all other flying insects.

The ones who weren't smart enough to fly away, anyways.

"Pass the grub!" Pumbaa said in between a tree divide.

"Why do the fireflies always go up there to the sky at the end of every summer?" Timon lamented, stuffing his face.

From below them sat Kion, blinking, wondering in his quiet muse what he could have done to make Kopa hate him so much. He sighed and lowered his head in dejection just as Bunga leapt on top of it. This time, Kion didn't humor him.

"Okay," the badger got off of him. "What's with the face?"

"I don't know…" Kion shook his head as he stared off into the trees. "It's just that Kiara, Kopa and you had so much fun today. And… I really wanted him to like me. He's like this happy, easy-going guy and he's fun, and cool and he has time to do stuff with you. I just wish he could like me."

"That sounds like my uncles." Bunga volunteered. "Well… when I was younger. Since we've been in the Lion Guard, we hardly ever get to do stuff like this anymore," he added.

"I don't mind that," Kion told him. "I know Dad doesn't think I understand how important things are, it's just, sometimes I wish I had a cool, fun dad like other kids do and Kopa…"

"Hey!" Bunga whacked Kion on his lion-embossed forearm with the back of his paw. "At least whatever happens to us we'll always have each other, right?" Kion smiled at him in appreciation. They wrapped their arms around each other.

…

On the lowest, forested plateau Kiara and Kopa watched the slow-moving stream and the dark shadows rotating in deep blue catches of night light. The lioness remembered a long time ago her mother had brought her to visit Kopa in this great, wide jungle. Kopa had caught fireflies while she had watched along this same, dark stream. Once in awhile, Kiara would wonder how she remembered all this.

"Remember-,"

"You're lucky." Kopa told her as they lay watching.

"Huh?" Kiara turned to him.

"You're lucky you and Kion have each other," he met her confused eyes with a smile, "I know you don't see it now, but it's a great thing you're both together, Kiara." The lion gazed with a speculative look up higher into the trees as he seemed to think about something. Kiara sighed a little.

"I wish you could've known Dad when I did," He met her eyes again, trying to relate. "I see how serious Kion is and how much it's affecting you. But, man, Dad used to be so much fun. He taught me Hakuna Matata." Kopa let his light eyes wander to his paws. "I don't understand why it all had to change or why he never comes here or why he left m-,"

Kopa noticed her nervous look and sighed softly.

"Well…" He tried reassuring her. "It's good you have Kion. He's kind of a stick-in-the-mud, but he's your little brother."

"Dad loves me, even if he's one too." Kiara told him. She tried to defend who she knew he was talking about. "Dad can be really strict sometimes, but he just cares about us."

Her big brother nodded. "I know," he agreed wistfully.

Kopa noticed her starting to mope and ruffled her head with his paw, "Hey, we still have the rest of the night, sis. I'll show you my underground sand castle before you go."

"Really?" She perked up.

He chuckled. "No."

Kiara smiled up at him as he looked out at the stars and then nuzzled into his side. The lion blinked at her unsurely and then brought her in close for a hug. A familiar warmth was there as he held her by his side, like she was feeling it in a soft haze. For once Kiara felt protected, not sheltered.

…

Asante picked up the uncommon smell of lion cub. No… two lion cubs! They were masking a young but presumably formidable lion's scent. Most of what the hyenas picked up were meerkats. Her Uncle Banzai growled at her hungrily as the rest of the clan joined them in a thinned-out forest.

"A lotta trees, not a lotta FOOD!" He got in her face.

"Trust me," Shenzi's daughter turned to lead the way.

"Hmph! _Why_?! Why should we keep listening to _you_? It's been three days and if it weren't for your mother, you'd-,"

"We'll eat soon. We just have a ways to go," Asante cut him off and continued to lead her mother's clan onward.

To be continued...


	5. When Love Doesn't Find A Way: Pt 1 of 2

**A/N:** Your patience is rewarded. ^^

 **I.** _A few weeks after the hyenas' banishment..._

Shenzi leaned down and licked her smiling cub while her twin sister Jasiri slept soundly in a ball. The mother offered the tiny animal an affectionate smile in return when noise outside their split in the gorge made her turn in attention. A long, lanky lion stood outside their home, her eyes gleaming red in the darkness.

The hyena let a growl rip out from between her fangs.

"Mama?" Asante asked.

"Shenzi?" Banzai echoed questioningly as he and what was left of their clan joined her. He, Ed, her eldest child Janja and their two sons joined her from behind, four other adults flanked them.

Just as the hyenas were about to defend themselves, two more lionesses joined the previously sole intruder. When Shenzi saw the first one slip back in rank to let the biggest one through, she stiffened not in resolve but in the realization of what she faced.

"Ed, Banzai," The hyena growled just under her breath, "Take Asante and Jasiri." She felt something touched her front paw.

"Mama?" Asante questioned.

"Go with your Uncle Banzai," Shenzi nudged her child towards the hyena. She briefly met the uncertain eyes of her two closest friends. " _Go_ ," she instructed concisely, there was no time for a lengthy goodbye. "Go _right_ _now_! Get my children out of here."

"But Mama-," Asante started.

"What about you?" Banzai asked as he took her. Ed hesitantly took his other sleeping niece. The hyena growled at them both.

"There's no time, just get outta here!" She said. As they quickly ran away, Shenzi turned to the lionesses. "Let your mama handle this," she determined as faced hyenas' ancient enemies; the lion.

 **II.** In Meerkat Metropolis…

Asante picked up the trail of the lion cubs upriver. Her round nose moved along the ground as she and her six other hyenas sniffed about for food. Suddenly, a rustle made her tense up.

" _Who's there_?!" The hyena demanded, turned to fight.

"Sister," Jasiri made her way out of the bushes.

Taken aback, the leader of the clan could only gasp.

...

"O.K… today's the day," Kion looked into the still river. He narrowed his almond-colored eyes. "Today I impress my big brother and prove my stuff, all before Mom and Dad return."

Even as he felt uncertain inside, Kion still stood tall.

"Kion, Kion," Bunga leapt out of the bushes.

"Right on cue," the cub didn't argue with his friend's classic timing. "Okay, Bunga. Where's Kopa? I thought we could-,"

"Hyenas!" Bunga told him. "And my uncle's family is just downstream getting washed. I can't find Kiara _or_ Kopa…"

"Calm down, calm down. We've dealt with hyenas before."

"I don't know, Kion," Bunga argued. "Before we always had Beshte, Ono and Fuli. I think we need your brother and sister."

"There's no time." The lion poised himself the opposite way of the meerkats. "If there's hyenas here, it's our job to meet them."

"I know. It's just…"

"Let's go Bunga," Kion immediately led his friend upriver.

There was no time to waste, Kion would take the entire clan on himself if he had to. The power of his roar was always enough, even if he didn't have enough help. Kion always won in the end.

 _And_ , Kion uncharacteristically thought, _I'll win Kopa over, too_.

…

"What'd _you_ want?" Asante demanded of her twin sister.

Her two uncles flanking her sides reminded her that she had only narrowly been spared banishment unlike her lion-loving sister, while simultaneously making her feel like her mother.

"Is this really what Mom would've wanted?" The blue-eyed hyena approached her, confident her family wouldn't strike.

"How would _you_ know what Mom would have wanted? You slept through the entire thing!" Asante snarled. Banzai and Ed looked at her uneasily, she ignored them and proceeded over to confront her sister. "And at least I didn't turn into a lion lover! It's no wonder our own brother wouldn't have you, you traitor."

Jasiri gave her a skeptical look and then walked closer herself.

Asante drew back but held her ground with a snarl; even next to their older brother Janja, Jasiri was the best fighter of the hyenas and everyone knew it. Banzai grinned over at an excited Ed and the six hyenas backed away as the two sisters met head-to-head.

The "challenger" looked disappointed. "I didn't come here for a fight, Asante. I just wanted to tell you some news I received on Zira." At this name, all the hyenas rallied to their leader's flanks.

"You traitor!" Banzai snarled.

His declaration was met with equally vicious agreements.

"What'd you _doing_ here?" Asante leveled with her.

"Zira is a training a new Scar," Jasiri informed her. "I was on my way to find Kion," More snarls, "When I picked up Uncle Banzai's scent." He leered at her. "I thought I'd find you here."

"You need to leave." Asante said. "This isn't the time or place for a reunion." As soon as this was out, Jasiri crouched down.

"You're not hurting Kion and his friends," she informed her.

"No," Banzai and Ed advanced past a surprised Asante. " _You_ just became an obstacle to our hunting plans." There were no words to describe what Asante saw next; the only thing clear now was that her short reign as the leader of the clan was over.

 **III.**

Shenzi showed no signs of fear as she stood her ground against one of the most feared lions in the Pridelands; and the deadliest animal in the Outlands next to Shenzi. Scar's biggest devotee…

And unrequited stalker.

" _Well, well, well_ …" Came the husky voice that haunted even her own children, Shenzi knew. "If it isn't Scar's right paw lioness."

"Don't you **dare** mention his name to me," The hyena found her retort was almost a roar. "After what that traitor did to us, Zira!"

"Don't you DARE call Scar a traitor!" The lioness's roar was a little more convincing; and menacing. She composed herself as the hyena drew her head back. "Curious you should even bring up that fabricated treason, seeing as how you not only _lied_ to Scar but turned on him in the end. Hmm, what do you think?"

Shenzi rose her head high as the red-eyed, angular shapes of Zira's pride blocked her only exit. She didn't even consider going the backway; her entire family would be shredded to pieces simply because Zira was Zira. Simply because they could. Hyenas mattered to no one, they were just soiled dirt.

The cornered clan leader answered, "Think about _what_?"

But Zira was looking from side-to-side at her two lionesses.

"What'd you think? Is she worth the effort to kill?"

Shenzi snarled savagely at her.

"Would she even _begin_ to satisfy my blood lust?" Zira finally met the hyena's eyes, as if she should be grateful to be even within hearing distance. "To be sure, I don't blame you for Scar's death. That little vexation I possess lies with a lion."

Of course hyenas were incapable of anything to her.

"Simba didn't kill Scar," Shenzi explained evenly.

"But he did," The lioness turned back, her deep voice getting even lower. "And Simba is the reason we are banished. You

too, my dear. Scar's only true flaw was his fear of mortality."

"Scar was a coward! I would _die_ before I said otherwise."

"Oh!?" Zira inclined her head a little towards Shenzi, her

tone turning bizarrely pleasant, "Why, did you hear that?"

Shenzi watched as a terrifying, evil gleam came into Zira's glowing red eyes, she glanced between her two lionesses again. "Well… who are _we_ to deny such a request?" The last thing Shenzi thought of was her children not knowing why their mother had never come back. Then she was gone.

To be continued...


	6. When Love Doesn't Find A Way: Pt 2 of 2

**I.**

Kion leapt over the bushes and was backed by Bunga as they arrived at an empty spot near one of the enclosed lakes. The cub wrinkled his nose and turned to look the badger's way: _Really_? Bunga was adamant as he insisted he had seen a clan here.

"Hehehehehehe."

Both friends looked around in alarm and went back-to-back.

Suddenly, a female hyena led an entire group of unfamiliar, much bigger ones out of the bushes surrounding the open space. Kion was surprised to sense Bunga shaking, his hackles poking his backside. "Are you scared?" he asked the honey badger, not wanting to know.

"No." The animal answered quietly. "But these aren't the usual hyenas we face."

Kion shook his head in disbelief and turned to confront the leader.

"Good job, Asante." An older male congratulated. "Doublin' back like that."

She growled at the cub who had his head inclined forward, ready to fight.

"Smell that?" Another male asked.

"Yeah, it's familiar." The first one said.

"It's Simba's cub," Asante confirmed, her eyes never left Kion's.

...

"HAH!" Uncle Banzai hooted. "Sounds like we get our revenge on Scar, Mufasa _and_ Simba! We didn't even have to go out of our way." Asante looked the cub over slowly.

She had been hoping for a different cub.

"Kion," Bunga backed into his best friend as other hyenas encroached.

No, these were _definitely_ not like the hyenas they'd fought back in the Pridelands.

"Stay with me, Bunga." Kion said assertively. "They're just hyenas and I have my roar."

" _Roar_?" Banzai puzzled. Ed backed away a little after glancing at Kion's forearm.

Asante didn't move. "Do you know why you're the only son?" she met Kion head-on.

"Asante!" Her uncle criticized.

The cub lowered his ears. "I... _no_. There's only one hyena I can trust."

 _And there was only one lion I could trust._ "Simba doesn't trust you, does he?"

She saw the recognition in the cub's orange-gold eyes.

"A three-in-one combo revenge meal and you're _stalling_ again?!" Banzai's wrath rose.

Asante knew she couldn't control the situation much longer.

"You hyenas need to _leave_!" Kion commanded. The animals didn't laugh, they didn't pause. Something in the cub's normal assumption broke, something returned him to a child backed into his trembling friend. These hyenas were different, they weren't here to play games. The teenagers in the Pridelands were nothing on these hungry adults.

"Ki- _on_..." Bunga managed to get out, all too aware that they were going to die.

Kion didn't speak, he crouched down along the ground in submission.

It happened so fast, but suddenly a lion had jumped across the opening.

 _DAD!_ Kion thought joyfully.

But the animal that had landed over him was much smaller. However, something in his body was fierce, causing the teenaged lion to bend rigid over on himself. Someone else had joined them on the safe side of the ring of bushes. "Kopa!" Kiara called out.

"Kopa?" Kion said in surprise, looking up.

" _Kopa_?!" Asante was dumbfounded.

"Kopa?" Banzai repeated, less dramatically, "Isn't he the one that-?"

The lion's eyes jerked forward, their red-orange irises darkening along the edges.

Kion felt a throbbing on his arm and looked down, his Guard mark faded in and out.

Asante and Kopa stared into each other's eyes. Somehow, though, Kopa wasn't there.

The lion cub didn't seem to notice how the sky darkened or how the wind picked up, he was staring in admiration of his older brother. Finally, something they could bond over! Kion didn't think hard for once about what was right or wrong, he leapt to face the opposite way of his brother. Bunga edged out of the way as the hyenas watched.

"Uh... Kion?" His friend said.

Kopa couldn't hold his power in another moment and blasted his roar high into the sky, managing at the last moment to avoid striking Asante. Kion then released his. It was a chaotic, surreal moment of platonic harmony. Bunga tried but failed to stay in place.

" _Kionnnnnnnn_!" He cried as he was blown helplessly away.

Kiara ducked behind a rock as hyenas, leaves and almost entire tree limbs caught the force of Kion's roar and went sailing the other way into the nearby lake. Asante, one of the few hyenas on her side not to run away in terror, decided to make a bold effort to save her lost love and charged straight at Kopa. She knocked the dazed lion off his own four feet and sent him falling back onto Kion, who turned to receive his brother's shared pride. He let out a yelp and the two boys briefly touched each others' forearms.

When Kion managed to regain his balance, the sky had cleared and the scene before him revealed all that had transpired. There was no _Havi Kabisa_ for this. Asante, Kion, Ed and Banzai looked upon the nearly demolished jungle. Trees toppled over into one another, animals ran crying in fear, the lake was rippling and Bunga lay groaning on a floating log. Kion didn't know what to say, let alone do. What had the lion just done?!

"Kopa!" Kiara cried, nudging at her unresponsive brother.

"That's enough for me..." Banzai moved away from his niece and the destruction at hand, Ed nodded excitedly. "Let's get outta here! We don't need another Scar attack."

Asante slowly approached Kion from behind.

"How could you?" She didn't look at the cub.

Kion turned to her, shocked. "What you mean?!" He growled at her.

"Look at you brother," Kion looked again, but somehow couldn't quite comprehend.

Nothing had gone right in the last few days.

"Kion, we have to get Kopa home! Mom and Dad will know what to do..."

"Dad doesn't even know you're here..." Kopa whispered, but Kiara didn't react to that.

"Kopa!" She knelt to his level.

"Isn't it bad enough his own _father_ turned him out?" Asante snapped at Kion again.

"I... I didn't-," He saw Kopa, Kiara... Bunga. Kion panicked. "I did mean to _do_ this!"

"Maybe I can't do anything about Simba, but I can sure take care of you!"

Kiara looked up at her younger brother, even Bunga rose his head weakly.

"How can you possibly call yourself his brother? You almost killed him!"

Kion backed away, knowing he might not have the roar to defend himself. The hyenas that had been blown away came back to ambush Kion from the sides. Asante showed her teeth. The cub looked over at Kiara. She glanced between the two brothers before making her decision. Bunga tried to get up but could not; Kion was totally on his own.

Just before the child could be attacked, someone spoke up.

"Wait!"

Everyone looked away from him.

" _Kopa_ ," Kiara rejoiced.

The frail lion shakily rose to stand on his front paws and look Kion directly in the eyes.

"Run," He told him. "Run away from here. Take Kiara and Bunga and go. _Now_!"

Kion quivered in place a moment, remembered his duties and then somehow flung himself forward. Kiara bent down and showed her teeth at the lion cub - Asante actually smiled; she was definitely not like Simba - and watched as her little brother rushed over to Bunga. Kopa met his sister's anxious eyes when her gaze returned to his, he smiled at her encouragingly.

"Go with him," the lion instructed.

"And _leave you with them_!"

Asante tucked her chin to her throat to hide her reaction.

Kopa made the single worst mistake he could make; he looked back at her with trust.

"I'll be fine," the lion promised.

Kiara looked up and judged if she could trust his assertion, or if she was willing to die herself.

Asante was so scared, the rest of the hyenas were so confused.

"I-," she started to say.

"It's okay," Kopa just smiled. "So long as you're the one to take me out."

" _Take you out_?" Banzai misinterpreted. "As in, _date_ you?"

"I knew these lions were crazy! I'm not eatin' another one."

The hyenas shook their heads and left.

"Go," Kopa told Kiara, "I'll catch up."

Painfully, she did as she was told.

Asante lingered for just one more moment before her uncle calling her back decided her fate.

"Go," Kopa told her as well. "I'll be waiting."

The meerkats all descended from the trees then to help him.

To be continued...

 **A/N:** I hope this makes up for any lost time! XD More soon.

And yes, It Is Time... FOR THE LION LORD!


	7. A time for truth

**I.**

 _Back at Pride Rock..._

Besthe, Fuli and Ono lazed around toward the back of the lion den.

Motivated by sheer boredom, the hippopotamus looked between his two friends.

"So, what'd you guys wanna do?"

"We could go on patrol," Fuli suggested with a brief glance.

Ono ruffled his feathers with a testy noise. "You mean, _I'll_ go on patrol?" he didn't look up.

"Well, sure," Besthe chimed in amiably. "Fuli is Nala and I'm Simba."

"And that would make _you_ Kion." The cheetah was cheerful. "And still part of the Lion Guard."

The shadows of five animals made the threesome look up suddenly.

Simba was surprised. "Besthe? Fuli? Ono? What are you three doing here?"

"Guarding Pride Rock until you guys or Kopa, Kiara and Kion came back," Besthe explained.

" _Kopa_?" The King picked out a single name at the same time Nala cringed. "How'd you-?"

"Hey, Simba, I thought you said Zira had gotten your oldest son. Now you've adopted?"

"Actually, Chum, I don't think Simba would adopt a hippo."

"How do you clowns know what Simba would or wouldn't adopt?"

A very large cream-colored lion with black strips in his mane, a mahogany lion and one that had a dark golden pelt approached from their right. Something about the way they stood and looked at the three youngsters, sizing them up, brought the trio up short. Nala blushed.

No one noticed.

"Who are they?" Fuli asked, tilting her head back.

" _Actual_ lions." Ono opened his eyes for the first time.

"I've got a bad feeling about this in the pit of my stomach," Besthe worried. He then grinned at both of his friends. "And I've got a pretty big stomach." Just then an adolescent lion appeared beside Nala as if he had always belonged there.

"So these are the animals Kion chose?" He asked. The lion was a gangly, pale yellow color with a dark grey mane running down his neck and light green eyes. There was four of them.

The _Lion_ Guard began to look at each other with some concern.

 **II**.

Clouds that had started to cover the sky were moving toward the desert, it was the middle of the morning and in the chaos of the last hour everything had gone quiet. Even the fish. Kion ran to the edge of the jungle, having lost Bunga and Kiara along the way but not yet realizing it. He stopped to catch his breath and have a drink from the river running in from the desert. It was only when he saw his reflection was he reminded of what he had done.

"Kopa." He looked over his shoulder in alarm. There was no one behind him.

"Bunga? Kiara?"

No one.

When Kion looked back he saw a cub similar to himself staring up at him.

He watched as the child was accompanied by his mother and father to the end of Pride Rock where a large, cream-colored lion waited for them. The cub turned to his mother and stood up on his hind feet, placing his paws on her chest. He begged to know why he had to leave.

"It'll be safer for you," Kion's mom told him, nuzzling the cub. "We'll see you soon, son."

"Dad?" The cub looked up at his dad, at Kion's father. Simba paused a moment, then turned away. Nala diverted his attention by nudging him toward the strange lion and thanking him.

"It's no problem," he told her, picking the cub up with his teeth. "We've done this before."

The child looked at his mother with wide eyes. "Mom?"

Nala was beside herself. "I'm sorry," she pressed her face close to him, her voice wavering.

Kion watched as the lion took his older brother away as his father did nothing.

"It's hard to understand, isn't it?"

The cub looked up as the hyena from before approached.

"We all thought Kopa was dead," She said with shadows in her eyes. "But since I know the truth now, maybe you should too. Your dad is a paranoid freak. He's a lion, Kion. And he's going to do just what every lion before him has done; persecute those who stand up to him."

"My dad would never do that!" Kion defended his father. "Why do you even care about Kopa?"

"Because he saved my life." Asante told him. "Because your mother tried to kill me."

He shook his head, refusing to believe this. "No."

" _Yes_. You think you're something special? I bet right now your dad is trying to find a team of lions to take your diverse little Guard's place." She nodded once when Kion looked at her in surprise. "Yes, I've talked with Janja. Kion... Simba saw Kopa as a liability. If Zira thought he was dead, if we all did, then maybe her object of wrath could be quelled. Kopa is good and he believes the best of everyone, but you don't. You're like Simba, Mufasa, even Scar."

"No, I'm not!" He practically shouted at her, starting to shake. "I'm nothing like Scar."

"You don't have to be," Asante circled him slowly. "I never got a chance to be anyone else, I had to take responsibility for my clan. But Kion, you can still choose what you want to do."

The cub was scared, helpless to argue. "That's ridiculous," he quivered. "If my dad-,"

"When your dad finds out what happened in the jungle, what do you think he'll do to you?"

Kion wasn't ready to accept this. "My dad loves me."

Asante didn't buy it. "He loved Kopa, too, but not enough to risk a visit to see him."

Someone called for her.

"Think about it," she told him as she turned to leave. "You can live any life you want to."

The cub looked down at his arm and saw that his mark faded in and out.

"No." Kion decided. "I have to talk to my grandfather. This _can't_ be right."

His family was good, he had a father who was loving and compassionate.

And Kion needed to prove it.

...

The cub ran to top of a sand dune, gazing up at the sun and blue sky before the darkening clouds moving in from the west could cover up the warmth beating down on him. Kion was desperate, seeking the bright yellow circle instead of the vapors he always saw the lions in.

"Grandfather Mufasa!" He plead.

A deep, rapid-fire rumble caused him to jerk back and he looked over his shoulder to see a lion with a long, dark mane and glowing green eyes appear. Kion folded his thick brows over his eyes and glared at the strange lion. Thunderclaps boomed around the cub as the image of the lion became more defined. He cringed in on himself as he felt his forearm constrict.

" _Kion_..." A voice shuddered the earth.

"I know who you are!" The younger lion shouted. "I've heard all about you."

"You've heard a lot about me... but not everything."

Scar appeared complete and angular in the sky even as he had a cloud-blurred outline.

"I don't understand," Kion's own voice was somehow audible over the growing wind, his red mane tuft blowing forward as the clouds circled him like a hunting pride. "Only _kings_ can be up there. Good, honest lions who don't hurt others. And you, you were **_never_** king! My dad kicked you out," Kion argued with the slowly grinning lion, "You shouldn't be... you should-,"

But Scar's appearance in the sky could not be denied.

"If I wasn't the rightful king, I was still _a_ king, my boy." He told him.

"Mufasa!" Kion searched frantically among the clouds. "Grandfather, where are you?!"

"It's just like Simba before you," Scar interrupted. "You can't find the one who supposedly was supposed to save you. No, you can't even save yourself." His great nephew looked up at him in horror. "I was, in fact, intending for the older brother to do my bidding. I already have my heir and his pride helping me, but, I wouldn't mind keeping it in the blood, Kion."

The cub grew furious. "I'll _never_ do your bidding."

"Oh, you will." His uncle refuted calmly. "But you're different from Simba and my brother, even from your sister and brother. You're insightful, Kion. More like your mother who never trusted me." Kion was growing frightened now, he searched for his grandfather but no one was there. "Still looking? Why not look _inside_?" Scar suggested slyly.. "Who is really living inside of you, Kion? Is it your grandfather?" Kion flinched, unsure. "Your father? Who is it?"

"My brother!" The cub fought him.

"You mean the big brother who never notices you? How about the sister who hates you?"

Kion looked away, tears in his eyes.

"Do my bidding, Kion. I can help you keep your roar, to never be alone." Scar watched as the cub turned to him, shaking hard as he tried not to listen. "Because family will only let you down, Kion. Friends will only demand more of you. What do you want for yourself? Is being a conflicted child solider want you really want?" Kion looked down at his feet, trying not to see the truth... and seeing it very clearly. "I can help you. Just... let me inside, Kion."

The child reached another decision.

"A lot of what you're saying is true, a lot of what Asante and even the hyenas are saying could be right." Kion closed his eyes and snapped his head up. "But I will **_NEVER_** be like you!" he declared fiercely. "But I'm not gonna be used by family and friends, either. I've gotta confront my dad. My mom. I have got to learn the truth about Kopa once and for all."

Scar's image faded out of the clouds as Kion raced across the desert, leaving his siblings.

Leaving his best friend.

...

"I don't believe it," Kiara moved out of some large, ovate plants. "He was... talking to _Scar_."

"He could've just been telling him off," Bunga said from on top of Kiara's back.

"No," She understood more then him. "Scar's grip is too strong. If he has an influence over Kion, there's nothing left to do then to try to get to my dad." Bunga tried to argue further but Kiara hushed him. "The meerkats are helping my brother, come on! We gotta beat him."

To be continued...


	8. Kion's Storm

**I.**

 _Present day in the Pridelands..._

"Zuka Zama, Zom Zom Zom..." Bunga said as he caught a flying bug between his claws, smashed it and then gelled his fur back. He smiled into the small tree indention with the water in it and noticed a bug in his teeth. "Ahhh," he picked it out and ate it."Yeah, _perfect_!"

And it was perfect.

Today was the first anniversary of the Lion Guard and everyone was excited.

"Bunga!" Rafiki popped his head in; he lived in the upper part of the tree.

"Hi, Rafiki," The honey badger said amiably to his old friend. _And I do mean "old friend"._

He tried not to grin as he finished preening himself.

"Careful, now. You don't want to look presentable, do you?"

Bunga showed all his teeth and for once it wasn't in defense.

"I see you took up my hobby," the mandrill moved over to admire Bunga's nicely detailed tree paintings; for a badger, anyways. He nodded briefly in Rafiki's direction. "Let's see... _ah,_ it is the first animal you ever saved: Kiara! What else, let's see... _oooh_ , yes, I see your second adventure is here. That's good. When Kopa rejoined, excellent! Huh... and this one."

"Don't you have hosting duties?" The badger asked, a little less friendly.

"I see you all are over here." Rafiki went on, pointing to the image of Kopa with Bunga and Fuli at his sides. "And... _Kion_ ," the mandrill observed musingly. Bunga placed his paw over his chest as a throb of pain went through his heart. "Over here. I see by his age that this was a recent encounter. He is over here by these hyenas and Outlanders... away from you."

" _That's_ how he wanted it to be!" Bunga splashed the wall with red. Rafiki was a bit stunned until he realized he used this same juice, too. "I don't want to talk about it." he crossed the space between him and Kion, though he was closest to him, with red. "What's done is done. Kion made his decisions and now he has to live with them." Bunga wouldn't look up. "I tried to be there." he placed his paw over Kion and streaked it in red. "But I was too late, Rafiki."

When the badger did look up the mandrill was studying the altered drawing pensively.

"I see," he commented, "So all is set in berry juice and bug guts."

Bunga savagely grabbed at his materials and threw them at the tree.

" _Get out_!" He demanded in anger, clutching at his face. "Please, please just get out..."

His head was smeared in red.

The mandrill was mortified.

"Bunga, I didn't-,"

"Go away," the badger said more calmly, like Kopa. He buried his streaked face. "It's over."

"My son," Rafiki placed his hand on Bunga's shoulder, the badger looked up at him with eyes that were shiny. He rubbed at them like a child. "It is not _the end_." he spoke softly. He took a handful of dust and touched Bunga's heart, the mandrill then drew a line with the tips of his fingers to what was left of Kion. "When we are connected, we are never truly gone." He smiled gently at Bunga. "And when we love someone, sometimes that's enough to live on."

The tough little honey badger dropped his arms.

"If Kion knows someone still feels him in their heart, maybe he can finally move on."

Bunga turned to look at the bridge Rafiki had painted. The mandrill started to leave.

"And maybe Bunga, you can finally move on, too. If only you can find peace."

 **II**.

 _In the Pridelands' past, late day_...

Kion, having traveled under the cover of clouds that followed, came to the dam he and his friends had constructed. A second river bisected much further up the ravine, but the wide space below him was open and bare. The cub sighed softly and looked out towards home.

Everything was growing grayer as all the animals hid and grew quiet.

He was about to start off for Pride Rock when he saw four large lions heading his way; and they were not from his pride. Kion felt a thrill of fear and jumped forward to duck behind a small knoll of logs. This was unusual for Kion and he knew it, but with recent events he just couldn't take any chances. The three largest ones stopped as the smallest one cut them off.

"I just don't get it," He was no older then Kopa. "Why did we even come here?"

"Simba changed his mind." A dark golden lion said. "Don't worry too much over it, Mheetu."

"No, he just didn't want to discuss it in front of those other three animals."

"Chumvi, Simba wouldn't have had Zazu gather all of us if it wasn't for a good reason."

"He wants us to be the real Lion Guard," Mheetu told them.

Kion flinched back with a start, gasping.

 _No_.

"Of course he does," the calmest lion, a big cream-colored one, agreed. "But not now."

"We'll hang tight until Kion gets back." Chumvi decided. "Keep it close to the Pridelands."

"I can't imagine what that little cub was thinking." Dark golden lion professed. "An entire Guard made up of... what? A crane, an oversized warthog and the worst of all cat-kind..."

"A cheetah," His obvious best friend, Chumvi, agreed. The two laughed.

"No," The calm lion said. "We'll just have to teach him the right way."

"Sounds like it," Mheetu agreed.

"NO!" Kion leapt out and confronted them.

The four turned as one.

"You think you guys can take my friends' place?" They were befuddled. "It's my dad," Kion let his rage direct itself towards Pride Rock. "He never trusted me... he was going to betray me! Just, just like _Kopa_! And you animals knew all along, didn't you?" he couldn't call them lions with any conviction; but he had plenty. "You think you're good enough to take Fuli's place?"

No one had anything to say.

"Besthe's? Ono's? You think you can take my best friend _Bunga's_ place?!"

They couldn't move.

"I HATE LIONS!" Kion declared with a thunderous anger. The lions jerked back in fear. "You can't even admit when you're wrong. You can't admit I'm right!" They could not. " _Admit it_."

They wouldn't.

But the cub didn't direct his full fury on them, he was seething as he faced Pride Rock and, truly, his father. He did issue them a warning before he left, "If you ever return to my dad's lands again, you'll pay for it." The cub jumped down and began his slow rampage forward.

Like frightened gazelle, they fled. Twice as fast.

...

"Simba," Rafiki leapt up onto Pride Rock and caught the lion's mane in a firm jerk.

"Rafiki, what is it?" He turned from arguing with his wife.

Nala hid her sorrowful look from him.

"Look," the mandrill pointed to the east. A great, monstrous storm head appeared on the horizon. Simba looked between him and at his pride. He felt a pang of guilt stab his heart.

"Nala," The lion seemed to understand what was happening, "I'm sorry." he told her. "You were right. But-, I was so afraid if Kion and Kiara found out." They both heard Rafiki repeat their cub's name in realization. "I was afraid this would happen. I was afraid Scar would try and use our children, just like he used me. Just like he's using Zira and the hyenas... but it's too late." Her turquoise eyes widened. "I need you to take the lionesses and get out of here. Try and regroup with your brother and our friends." She started to panic. "Please, trust me."

"I do, but-,"

"Please." Simba caught her in a hug. "I'll catch up if I can."

"This is our _son_." She insisted.

"Yes, the son I never wanted to have so much responsibility." He said as a fact.

Nala understood then. "I'm sorry." she hung her head.

"I am, too," Simba admitted.

"Simba." Rafiki informed him of Kion's approach.

"Go, **now**." The King held no compromise for her.

Nala nodded and lead the rest of the lionesses, including Tiifu, Zuri and several other cubs, out the back away Simba used to escape through to clear his head. Resolutely, the young king looked at Rafiki and Rafiki back at him. Zazu perched on his shoulder loyally and as a united front, the three animals went to confront what they knew was Scar's vengeful return.

...

" _Kion_ ," A familiar voice urged from behind him.

The cub ignored it, making his begrudging trudge forward.

He was almost halfway home.

"Ki- _on_!" Mufasa appeared overhead, much closer now.

Second thoughts pervaded, as they inevitably would. Kion ignored them.

The cub let out a few test grunts. After several tries, they pounded out convincingly.

" _Kion_!" His grandfather appeared in a body of water, starting to get angry in his insistence.

And again, Kion completely tuned him out. He leapt over the image and continued forward.

"Kion..." Mufasa sounded truly worried for him. His grandson didn't even flick up an ear.

" _KION_." The ferocity would have startled anyone else, Kion merely stopped.

After a moment of thought, he spoke, "You're nothing but the wind in my ear." The cub was dead serious as he told Mufasa. "You're not real, you're not alive and you do _not_ live in me."

With these as his only parting words, he made his way closer and closer to Pride Rock.

Mufasa faded as if from memory.

...

"What's Kion doing?" Fuli asked in confusion. Besthe and Ono looked between each other.

The cub slowly but surely closed the distance; he was only about fifteen yards away now.

" _Kion_?!" Ono called to him.

"Kion, what are you doing?" Besthe lowered his brows.

"I need to talk to my dad!" The clouds roiled behind him.

"Take it easy," His largest friend tried reasoning with him, "What's this all about?"

"Kion, have you completely gone crazy?" Fuli accused. "What're you planning on doing?"

"What'd you mean, ' _What am I planning on doing_?' " Now Kion was confused. "I just wanna talk to my dad." he tried approaching his friends, but they crouched down in defense. Kion was distraught. "What are you guys doing? We're _friends_." He came closer to them but Fuli hissed at him, Kion forgot to react as he caught sight of his dad. He growled up at him. So this was it? Simba was leading a counterattack on Kion. His own son! "Guys, outta the way."

"That's my line," Besthe snapped at him.

"Besthe, it's cool." Kion insisted. "Ono, Fuli, it's me. I won't hurt you. I just need to-,"

"If you're not gonna hurt us, what are you doing?" Fuli asked him again.

"What are you _going_ to do?" The cub turned to face Kopa, who had asked the question.

Kiara and Bunga joined him.

"Kion!" His friend entreated him.

"Bunga," he winced at the honey badger before shaking his head. "DAD!" He shouted.

Simba stood up above him stolidly, watching.

"You know why I'm here, you know I want _answers_."

"Kion, this is enough." Kiara braved the circle to tell him. "Dad doesn't owe you anything."

"You never liked me, did you, Kiara?" Kion retorted.

"Kion, that's enough." Kopa stood with his sister. "You don't talk to your sister like that."

"I'm doing this for you," His little brother informed him. " _And_ for Asante. Jasiri!"

His brother stopped at that, but held Kiara back from getting any closer.

"Kion, you come any closer, the only thing _you'll_ be doing is airborne flips."

"You were always scared of me." Kion faced Fuli. "Scared of lions."

"I'll show _you_ who's scared!"

"Kion, your sis and bro are right." Besthe tried to soothe him. "This is enough, calm down."

Ono kept his mouth shut.

"Kion." "Kion." "Kion..."

" _Kion_!"

"Kion," Simba said simply.

The cub unleashed a ghastly roar up to the clouds. Simba roared his defiance right back, in an attempt to ward off the enormous gale and save the children... it did nothing. Eyes that lit the dark black with an evil green appeared. Zazu tried to fly but was pushed back. Rafiki caught his tail and grabbed onto Simba, by sheer luck holding him down. No, it was Simba's pride that held on to them. Nala had defied Simba and returned to help. Fuli and Ono took cover behind Besthe, who tried to make himself impregnable. Kopa knew it was useless but clutched Kiara and Bunga tight to his chest. The badger looked up at his best friend and he could only do one thing. He managed to squirm free and clutch at the earth to get to Kion.

...

"You should have told him the truth!" Nala hollered at Simba, the wind roaring against her.

"You should-," He stopped himself. The lion held his ground and looked up to the heavens.

"Nala, our kids," Someone said.

"Dad."

"Simba!" Zazu cried.

" _Our children_!" Another lioness wailed.

"FATHER!" Simba yelled as loud as he could. "Save them. Save our kids! Save Kion, save my sons and daughter. Please. Just take me." he sobbed, bowing his head. "Scar, just take me."

" _Simba_." Nala was aghast.

"Leave my kids alone and take me instead." His request this time was barely audible.

...

Bunga grit his teeth. "Ki- _on_..." The badger reached out to take his back leg.

Everyone squinted against the upwards gale and saw Kion wheel around on Bunga.

His eyes glowed a violent red along the irises.

"Kion..." Tears rolled out of Bunga's eyes, he tried to reach again for his friend.

The cub scrunched up his muzzle and was preparing to blast him. Pride Rock shook as the storm above grew more violent. The entire Guard rushed to Bunga's aid but could not get close enough because of the rattling earth. Kiara yelped out the badger's name and Timon and Pumbaa seemed to call out from a distance. Bunga flinched away as Kion took a breath.

Suddenly, a paw planted down in front of him. Kopa appeared over the honey badger with a look of determined anger. But it was a justified anger, a righteous fury that burned like fire in his russet eyes. Bunga narrowed his own; they looked like the eyes of-, _RAWWWRRRRRR!_

Kopa's roar was like a white noise, shielding everyone while cancelling out the violence and chaos of Kion's storm. Something in that moment overcame Kion and he looked at all of his friends and family through the eyes of rationale again. His wandering gaze met Bunga's and in that moment, in that shifting danger, in that fading light, Kion knew one thing for certain:

He was no longer going to be allowed here.

He no longer had a friend or family member to call his own.

This shook him more then today ever could. Something golden fell heavy over the dark shape of a lion, crushing it with a final sunburst. Kion barely saw it, he watched as Bunga closed his eyes and turned away from him. The cub lifted a paw to approach him, stopped, and then took two steps back. Agonized in his despair and regret, Kion used what he could only assume was his grandfather's final gift to him and make a quick escape. Bunga let him. It was an unusual custom that a lion could only commit acts of grace toward someone once.

To be continued...

 **A/N:** Yeah. *nervous chuckle* I know. My mind is a little wonky from writing this and I'm the writer. O_o But, I think everyone deserves a good story. ;) More to come very soon! ^^


	9. Shadow of the past

**I.**

Kion escaped down to the second river along a stony path Jaisri had once shown him.

In painful acknowledgement, he closed his eyes and bowed his head:

"I have been kicked down… friends nowhere to be found.

My family is a _chore_! I don't know what they're for…

I tried to do my best, be better then the rest." He glared angrily into his reflection.

Then he looked up at the clouds. "But maybe It Is Time, I walk a different _ll_ _iinnneee_ …

One that does not bind, one that is truly mine." He felt the ground begin to rumble.

Caaaast…off... myyyyy. pain. Em- _brace_ … the. gain.

Tor-tured… _no more_. I will have the _final word_ …"

The earth seemed to move him, transporting him over the river and into the Outlands.

Dye. my. mane. jet… _black_." It changed. "There's no way I'm _goin' back_."

"The Lion Guard's no more…" Kopa lead the Guard to the river's edge where they watched.

I'm now… The _Lion_ LOOOORRDDD!" Seismic activity rocked the landscape.

Rocky spires jutted out over their heads; the largest one vaulting up a shadowy Kion.

"I may look like my dad," Cub Simba appeared in the sky before lightening struck it through. "But I am much more _rad_. What was once a good heart…" Kion jumped into a rising rock face and then ran through a dark cave ascent, appearing atop a prominent bluff he sang: Is now complete-ly dark."

He glared down at his father and sister as they joined up. "Naysayers neigh _no more_ …

I am The Lion Lord. You all are just my pawns, these pros outweigh the cons."

Kion grew prouder as he evilly sang, "Thousands will bow down… as _**I**_ assume the crown."

The rest of the The Lion Guard looked on from below, hurt and confused.

He sang triumphantly, "I don't need royal blood… my old life was a dud.

I'm fine just bein' me… Lord of the Lion Kings."

His former friends braced themselves, no longer doubtful.

"The Lion Guard's _no more_ …

I am the LION LORRRRRRRRRRD." The entire earth shook, sending rocks everywhere.

Simba leapt over Kiara and Besthe tried to cover his friends. Kion cackled insanely.

"THE LION LOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRD."

Scar's image appeared in the sky as lightening clashed in tandem with the laughter. Kion felt the power course through his body and it was like nothing he'd ever felt before. There was a part of him that tried to remember that this was wrong, that tried to remember his promise. But what that promise was and to whom he had made it to, Kion could not recall. Just then a devastating roar blasted forth, one that should have laid them all into the very earth they stood on. One so vast and powerful, it caused the rest of the big rocks to collapse to rubble.

The sky opened and the last traces of twilight revealed Kion's citadel had been torn apart.

"Kopa," Fuli said in amazement.

Everyone looked at him in disbelief as a bright red lion mark appeared on his forearm.

"Kion." Kiara closed her eyes tight. What had she done? Kion was-,

"He's alive!" Nala exclaimed with more relief then worry.

Simba watched on with anxiety.

"KION!" Kopa's normally quiet voice was a declaration. "You are **no longer** permitted in the Pridelands. From this day forward, any attempt to return will be dealt with the most severe of punishments; the ending of your life." Everyone reacted with a start. Simba took a step back. "Kion, you leave now out of shared blood, but return and even that won't spare you."

"You _fools_!" Kion stood atop the remaining rocky spire. "You're nothing to me!"

Kopa took a deep breath and aimed a massive roar at the towering podium.

The cub sucked in air through his teeth and met Kopa's roar head-on.

Both clashing winds caused a tremendous tornado to form in the sky; cold air had met warm.

Kopa stopped immediately. Kion felt himself being pushed from his perch.

He tried to keep up the force of his own roar but the power was cut off like a giant paw sweeping down to knock it away.

The Guard geared themselves readily to face their fallen leader.

With a few deep, fast breaths, Kion turned around and ran off. Bunga watched him go with wide eyes as everyone else turned away in grief. Tonight would be the mourning of a lost son, not the celebration of the return of one. Kopa knew this and accepted things as they were.

But Bunga, he would live with this for the rest of his life. Everyone would.

 **II**.

 _The Outlands, one year later..._

"Thanks for coming to see me."

"Anytime."

Kion looked out across the red-streaked sky from atop the highest ridge in the gorge.

"I'm not sure," Jasiri cocked her head to the side, "But I think something's troubling you."

The lion answered wryly as he lay beside her, "I was never into Fuli, Tiifu or Zuri."

"I was talking about your mindset."

"Really? These days you seem more critical about what's on it then in it." He glanced up.

The hyena chuckled as some of his black bangs fell in his face.

"Well," She swept them back with a flick of her paw. "Some things can't be fixed."

"You used the air to do that," Kion accused, smirking.

"Did not." Jasiri smirked back. "You haven't been a wind bag in quite some time."

The lion groaned; Jasiri never fought fair.

They both watched the magnificent sunset in the western sky.

"No one ever believed you." She was straightforward now.

"Please," Kion snorted, but he could never quite get that perfected indifference Kovu had.

Jasiri knew where he belonged.

"You ever think about finding a real friend?" She asked him sincerely. "Someone... it doesn't have to be a lion, but someone you can have a real future with. Someone who's real, Kion."

He paused before answering her. "You are real."

"You're not meeting my eyes."

The lion yielded.

"Say something." She insisted.

He didn't, his orange eyes were tired and blank.

They looked on to the fading rim of red.

Kion noticed the skinny river flowing below. "They'll end my life," he whispered.

"And just what kind of a life are you living now?" Jasiri's voice was thinner then wind.

When the lion looked up she was gone and when he looked down so was the mark that had long ago been emblazoned on his forearm. Kion never saw his grandfather anymore, but he knew the lion still watched him. The grandson of Mufasa knew he'd always be there for him.

No matter how much he felt the former king didn't want to be.

 **III**.

 _That night in the Pridelands_...

Bunga met Kopa from where he sat on a round saucer of a rock jutting out of the ground.

"Hey," He waved at the lion, smiling, "Heh, not much of a night guy, but-,"

"There haven't been any reports around our borders," Kopa interrupted as if Bunga hadn't spoken, "Your job is to stay here until you trade off with Fuli at sunrise." he rose to his big feet. The honey badger got a good look at his face in the moonlight and finally knew why he never saw eye-to-eye with Kopa after that first day; he was completely spiritless, demoralized by Guard duties.

Maybe Kion was different, but his brother wasn't the same lion he used to be either.

Kopa wouldn't look at him or acknowledge anything, he merely left.

Bunga sighed.

"This is gonna be a _long_ night."

...

A few hours later found the honey badger flipping flat stones into the puddle of water at his feet, contemplating the prospect of shirking his responsibilities and taking a shallow, moonlit dip when a shadow he'd know anywhere appeared before him. He gasped, his eyes jumping up to catch the full impact of whatever was causing the moonlight to frame it. Oh, and how Bunga knew! Suddenly, his threats from the night before dissolved into nothing. If it was him versus lion, Bunga knew it was lion. The young cat gave a low grumble. With no friends to back him up, the honey badger broke into a frightened run back towards his home.

The lion let out a more audible rumble and gave chase.

Bunga felt himself building momentum. Like a terrified hare, he increased to his full speed.

 _Oh, why am I such a coward now?_ He loathed internally. Never to his friends would Bunga reveal what he'd become. To almost everyone who knew him, Bunga was the same, fearless little rebel he'd always been. Even Timon and Pumbaa were fooled. Only one animal knew of the true impact Bunga had went through, but it was another who knew that the Prideland's Bravest could be afraid. A loud slap of the dirt and Bunga pivoted around to face his pursuer only a few feet away. Nothing blocked the badger's way but the lion was close enough regardless.

"G-G-G-," Bunga meant to say, "Guys," but there was no one here.

The shadow was almost as big as Kopa's and it's eyes glowed red.

Somewhere inside of himself, Bunga tried to see his friend.

But he saw nothing. Kion was gone.

Anger roiled in the honey badger's chest and set his gut on fire. A fierce growl ripped from his closing fangs and he let his hackles rise in warning. Bunga felt a pure rage over Kion's betrayal consume him as he fell to his feet and readied himself to fight. Maybe Bunga had been afraid before, but nothing was going to stop him from avenging the loss of his friend.

The honey badger charged the lion.

...

" _Are you scared, little boy?_ "

"I'm not scared of anything."

"Oh? So what are you doing here, covered in scars?"

"They're not scars," the cub looked up, his black mane flipping back with the effort.

"Defiance." The angular lioness knew Kion in an instant. Outlanders were so keen.

Well, some of them.

"What do you want?" He turned away from her even as the dust storm picked up.

Even as she blocked it.

"I'm taking food home for my family."

Kion met her eyes when she mentioned this.

The red-eyed lioness smiled. "You picked up on that fast," she told him, impressed.

"I'm not here to be on anyone's menu." He sat up to face her.

His confidence sent a spark of inspiration in her eyes.

"I'm actually looking for a bit of a... sparring partner, for my son."

Kion looked away. "Not interested."

"You've lost your pride to Simba."

He met her eyes. She measured his response.

The cub looked straight ahead now, trying not to cry.

"I see." This was all she said to this. "Then you're aware of where his sentries are posted."

"I..." Kion considered telling her about the Lion Guard. "I know a few easy ways to slip in."

It was better then being eaten by his own kind, or dying in a dust bowl.

"Come then," She gave him no other alternative. "And by the way, I _love_ that black mane."

"Do you think it'll grow out long enough to cover my arms?" He had barely escaped Janja.

"Why on earth would you do that?!"

"No reason..." Kion answered tonelessly.

"Oh, and call me Mother. Son."

"O.K., Ma'am. I mean! Mother."

...

Bunga attempted to ram the lion using his head, but the pensive shadow knocked him easily out of range. The badger flew back, did a quick flip to regain his footing and then charged at the shadow once more with a feisty little growl. A flash of white daggers caused the hellbent badger to freeze. Coldness struck his fiery heart as his eyes grew to the size of blue moons.

The shadow's red eyes narrowed and he approached the petrified honey badger.

"No, wait..." Bunga tried reasoning with him, regaining his ability to stumble backwards.

A part of him wished furiously that the hyenas had gotten him that day; or any day.

Nothing was worth this.

"K-Kion," He got his name out. "You don't wanna do this. You can't. I'm your friend! _Kion_."

There was no mercy in the lion's eyes.

" _Kion_!" Ono called from some distance away.

A fast blow to the chest put Bunga on his back.

He shook his head quickly before gawking up at the looming shadow above him.

...

Kion had Bunga right where he wanted him. The teenaged lion saw his furry neck and felt a familiar pang in his gut. He hadn't eaten in days. Bunga's huge eyes were flat with fear and it wasn't hard to envision this was a different honey badger then his friend; he was hungry and his last attempt to help had been met with hostility. If they didn't care, why should he?

...

Trembling, the honey badger watched as the lion moved his face directly over his own. This was the end. Bunga looked away. A few moments passed, something soft hit his cheek. He became aware of heavy breathing. Bunga's own breath became stifled a few times as he tried to figure out what this meant. Blinking hard and fast, he slowly turned to look the lion in the eyes. And... it was Kion. Skinnier, black-maned and with eyes that glowed bright red.

But it was him. He gazed upon Bunga with a weary, resigned look.

Kion also looked disappointed and the honey badger knew why.

 _He's been my friend all along._

"Kion," Bunga raised his claw to him.

The lion drew back his head, the rims of eyes really turning red.

"Kion." Bunga said again as he got to his feet and held out his arms to him.

But his old friend continued to move away from him, turning resentful.

"Kion, wait," Tears filled Bunga's own eyes. "W-we can talk about this. I don't wanna lose-,"

"KION!" Kopa's roar thundered the lands.

The honey badger gasped, whirling around.

"Bunga," Kion came closer.

He faced him in surprise, but not in fear.

The lion's brows were pulled over his eyes, the tips of his mane turning bright red.

"Kion, your mane." Bunga pointed out.

"Bunga, pay attention." Kion smiled tiredly.

His best friend almost smiled back.

Kion looked up at the approaching stampede, then back down at Bunga with a pained look.

"I gotta go," he muttered. "Stay here, Bunga, and don't follow me." The lion then ran off.

" _Kion, wait_!" The honey badger tried pursuing him this time.

Suddenly, a powerful roar shot across the Pridelands and Bunga stopped when he realized that it was Kion's. The noisy blast hit two large baobab trees and sent pieces of green flying everywhere. But it did the trick and distracted the Guard. Except for Bunga, who stood and watched the blur of yellow turn to shadow once more as he shot headlong for the Outlands.

"Not this time," Kopa paused only a moment, then pursued his little brother at top speed.

"I don't get it." Fuli commented. "He shouldn't have the roar anymore."

Bunga didn't look at her. "I don't think he ever lost it." He was beside himself.

Besthe made a quicker observation. "Fuli, Kopa could kill him."

"Fuli." The honey badger looked to her pleadingly.

"Kion," Ono voiced their shared fears with his own.

No one wanted this for him.

The cheetah dashed forward at a real top speed and was ready to cut Kopa off from reaching Kion when her leader made the conscientious choice to stop. Fuli came to a standstill beside him, not far from his forearm emblazoned with the red lion mark. Bunga dropped his head, exhaling in relief. Besthe and Ono noticed this with a sympathetic glance. The hippo took a deep breath.

"Sighing always sounds so releasing, doesn't it?" His egret friend let out a gust of air.

"Why didn't you tell us you needed us?" Besthe asked Bunga in concern.

"Because I didn't want you guys to think I was weak." The badger admitted tearfully.

In response, Besthe grabbed both Bunga and Ono up in a hug while Kopa and Fuli watched the sun rise over the Pridelands. Both big cats looked at one another thoughtfully. Whatever was happening here, Kion was trying to give them help and maybe even seek help himself.

"We have to tell Simba," Fuli decided.

Kopa dropped his shoulders. "Soon. First, I need to find my brother and talk with him."

 _To be continued_...

 **A/N** : This next chapter will be the last.


	10. The Brother's Roar

**I.**

 _In the Pridelands_...

"Why did you do this, Dad? Why did you not care enough to tell all of us the _truth?_ "

Kion and his father circled one another as the pride watched on.

"Son, you need to leave."

"I'm a part of this family! Don't you think Kiara and I had the right to know? If you had kept Kopa at home, in _his_ family, Kiara would have been in the Lion Guard. She would have all the experience she-," " _Kion_." Simba growled. "needed. And Kopa, he would be king. Like he was supposed to be all along." His father glowered at him. "And _me_ , I would've been free to live a normal life. I would have been free, Dad, and my friends would've been free, too. To be happy."

" ' _Friends_...' " Ono sarcastically let the word trail.

"I know that," Simba looked away stubbornly.

"So _why_?" Kion demanded, trying not to get emotional. As he kept demanding the truth, his mane slowly started to turn black again. The red receded to the roots. "Why me? Why not _her_?"

Simba glanced over as his youngest son pointed out Kiara.

"You're thinking of yourself."

" _You are too_." His son refuted.

"Look in the water, son," His mother pointed out a puddle from the recent rain. "Look at yourself."

...

"You're the reason Jasiri is dead."

The hyenas circled Kion; he had been a mistake returning to the Outlands this way.

"No," he tried to face them all as they moved, well-organized and coordinated. Some were older, some were younger. But the hyenas had finally gotten themselves together. "I didn't."

"Come on, Kion," Asante appeared between the parting hyenas, "We all know the truth, so don't deny it, lion. You've been trying to warn Simba of Zira's plans. Not only are you going to betray the lion pride that took you in, your _own_ kind, but you'll be betraying my sister." It was a fierce growl at the mention of Jasiri that made the female hyena stand off to the side.

"Kion, Kion, Kion." Janja made his way through the ranks.

The lion bared his teeth at the hyena, unafraid.

He would fight Janja to the death for what he had put Jasiri and Asante through.

"You gotta learn to pick your battles, sunshine." He nodded at Kion's ebbing mane color.

"I'll rip you apart," Kion rasped, extending his claws.

"You'll _what_?" Janja sneered. Asante looked away in shame.

The gray of Kion's mane turned dark black, his eyes reddened. " **I'll rip you apart**."

...

Kion ignored his mother's request. "Is it fair of her never to know? To be defenseless for no reason other than your selfish pride?" Simba growled. "And Kopa?! He deserved to know..."

"Where's Kopa now?" Fuli asked in concern.

She and the rest of the Guard backed Simba up.

"Why do you stand there and let Dad make all the decisions?" Kion turned to Nala. "You're just as strong as he is. If there's one thing the Outlands taught me, it's being true to who you are." Some of the lionesses scoffed. "Dad," Kion met Simba's eyes. "It doesn't have to be this way. If you gave the Outlanders a chance... they're not bad, they're just confused."

"We're not talking about them." Simba argued.

"I've met Kovu," Kion tried to reason with his father.

The lion growled much deeper this time, Kiara's ears perked.

"He mentioned you a lot," Her younger brother turned to her. "Well, as much as possible-,"

"You consorted with Zira's pride!" Simba stalked forward. Kion reared back, trying to stay calm but alert. His mane was only dark at the tips. "Scar's followers?! _Why are you here_?"

"Simba!" Nala snapped at him.

The frenzied look left the king's eyes.

Kion took another step back in fear, staring into his father's brief brush with insanity.

...

"You're gonna pay Kion," Janja's hushed voice was so velvet and menacing, the furs on the back of Kion's arms rose. "For makin' us starve every day, for what you did to my mother..."

"Asante told me." Kion met her eyes.

"Asante _what_?!"

The lion realized his mistake.

"Let'er go, Janja." He was quick to rectify. "Let'er go... and you can have me."

Kion stood with his head raised, eyes closed. Asante gasped as his fur lightened completely.

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!"

The irony was lost on most. Some of the hyenas growled, others just blinked and stared.

"Just let'er go, Janja," Kion repeated admirably.

"You worthless... you-, you think you're in a position ta-? Ah, man, you arrogant-!"

The lion rushed Janja and delivered his remaining trademark; the head-butt.

"I'm not proud of that, but I won't go back on my word," Kion told him, holding the grown hyena down. "Asante," He looked his friend in the eye. " _Go_. Find my father or brother and _warn them_. Zira's coming and she's training Kovu to be the new Scar. Please, you must go!"

"You betrayed me," She accused, not feeling at all friendly towards the lion who'd outed her.

"Kopa could die." Kion urged her.

"What'd you care?!" Janja demanded of Asante. "He's just a lion! And related to _Kion_."

The lead hyena looked between the two. She lowered her ears, clenched her teeth and then followed Kion's advice. He watched her lop away to safety and sighed. Janja growled at Kion and used his distraction to flip _him_ over on his back. The teen gasped and braced himself for Janja's death blow when a loud smack from an unusual direction caused him to jerk his eyes up. It was unusual because no one ever defended Kion. A large lion paw was over him and a thrill of fear that his father had found him ran through the utterly terror-stricken cub... until the paw came to rest before him. Kion released his breath; only one lion had ever done this.

...

"What happened to Kopa?" Nala insisted on knowing.

Despite Kion's claims, Kiara joined her mother.

The entire pride converged onto the scene and Kion realized that no matter what he did to make up for the past, no matter how much he apologized or tried to warn his family, and no matter how much the cub still loved them; nothing could ever break the King's Word, except for another king. And Kion had never been destined to be one, but he was still something...

...

Kopa stood over Kion with his arm emblazoned with the red lion mark.

The younger lion gawked until the brown-maned leader looked down at him... and smiled.

For the first time in a long time, Kion's light brown eyes lit up. The gold shined in them.

Instead of helping the lion up, Kopa placed his big paw on his brother's forearm.

A familiar orange lion emblazoned itself upon it.

Janja was absolutely floored. " _Oh_... man," he said, stupefied.

Wordlessly the brothers exchanged a reuniting smile before Kopa unleashed his roar on the hyenas. Kion beamed, but remembered that true glory came from love and not a combined sense of justice. He remembered himself and The Lion Guard. With passion in his heart, the returning hero flipped around and unleashed a ferocious roar on the remaining hyenas who were at his brother's back. The two lion brothers shared a tremendous power together, one that was not theirs but united them in a way that was all the more powerful as it flawlessly swept the large clan away. The half-crazed hyenas cried in fear as they took off in separate directions. Kion was chuckling like one as Kopa smirked at him knowingly. The cub nodded:

They both remembered the jungle.

"I was pretty shook up, but those hyenas were even-,"

"I have to go after them." Kopa told him.

"What?" Kion was taken aback.

His big brother nodded solemnly. "I have to go after them... and _keep_ them out. If what you and Asante said was true, Zira's going be striking tenfold what she tried when I was a cub."

Heartbreak was in Kion's eyes. "But we're family," he said.

Kopa smiled sadly. "We're also The Lion Guard."

They both knew what Kopa had always wanted Kion to learn, and how it no longer mattered if something was threatening their family. The bigger lion caught Kion in a tight hug, further sending the cub into shock. Kion felt saddened and lost as no one had ever hugged him like this, not even his mom. Kopa rested his big chin on Kion's head as he thought for a minute.

"Kion," He looked down into his brother's eyes with understanding, "I know that our parents have made their choices, and not all of them good. I know what they did and to a point why they did it. I've always known. Please, approach them with forgiveness and respect. That is the only way we'll ever find peace," he smiled at him gently. "And maybe we'll meet again."

The lion slowly backed away from Kion with a cautious look, then turned to head Janja off.

...

It was only now that he realized what his brother's parting look had meant.

"Wait!" Asante jumped in front of him.

" _Asante_?" Bunga recognized her.

Nala, too.

"Whatever Kion's told you is true."

"What _are_ you trying to tell us, Kion?" Kiara asked him curiously.

"I-," He looked at her and remembered what Kovu had said about her being the only happy thing before his training, Kion remembered what Kopa had done for Asante, he remembered Jasiri. There was nothing left for him to say; this wasn't his home anymore. "I've gotta go."

"No," The hyena turned to look at him. "What you did back there for me, for Kopa." Simba's pride relaxed a little. "You saved our lives and you didn't even have to. _I'll_ stand up for you."

Kion smiled at her kindly.

"Dad," he looked at his father. "Asante was Kopa's best friend. She's a strong leader and is every bit as loyal and capable as any lion. Let her stay here, where she'll have food and be safe. It's what she deserves," Kion saw her smile. "And it's what Kopa would have wanted."

"I'll consider letting you stay." Simba said, begrudging. "If you tell us where Kopa is."

"But not out of love." Asante accused.

"I _do_ love you." His father came closer to him.

Kion shrank away a little. "Kopa chased the hyenas off."

Simba lifted a paw and saw what he had done to both of his boys for the first time.

He had left them.

His son shifted just slightly from under his intended touch, holding his gaze the whole time.

"Mom? Kiara? Guys?"

Kion looked around at the pride.

"Simba," Nala came to stand beside her husband. "I think we should allow Asante to stay."

"Daddy," Kiara's bid seemed to finalize things.

He nodded once at Kion and returned to where he had stood before. "All right."

"Bunga," The teenaged lion turned to his honey badger best friend.

"Kion?" He said uncertainly, pawing up to him.

"You were seriously fierce _and_ brave standing up to me last night."

Bunga smiled his buck-toothed grin.

"And for that," Kion smiled back, "I want you to be the new leader of the Lion Guard."

No one moved except for the lion as he placed his paw on Bunga's forearm, the white of his mark formed an orange line down the middle. Bunga's mark then turned half of Kion's mark before the former leader's faded out. Everyone watched as Bunga was breathing hard, total amazement on his face. Kion watched with a proud look. The honey badger ran his claw up his new mark and then looked up at Kion with wet eyes. Kion's brows tightened as he gave a truthful nod. Bunga swallowed once and then jumped up to grab onto Kion in a tight hug.

The lion hugged him back easily.

Neither spoke but the honey badger clung to him. Kion felt his own eyes swell with tears.

He placed his paw on the back of Bunga's head and held him close for just a moment.

Everyone watched with a heavy look as Kion brought back his head, the honey badger jumped back down and turned to his best friend's unexpected defender.

"And Asante," Bunga spoke to Jasiri's sister, "You were brave _and_ fierce to come into the Pridelands, all while holding your own against the Lion Guard and an entire lion pride." She blinked at him.

"Oh, well, that's..."

" _Welcome to The Lion Guard_!" He slapped her arm nonchalantly.

She hiccuped, then yelp-roared Bunga away. " _Oh_!" Asante covered her mouth.

"I like her already." Fuli stated slyly.

"You'll get used to it," Besthe smiled. " 'Course, I've never been a hippo who could roar."

"Well, at least we've got some actual lions on the team now." Bunga brushed himself off.

"Speak for yourself," Ono chimed in, sounding cheerful.

"Speaking of which, you do know that the _Fiercest_ is the leader, Bunga." Kion smiled at him.

The honey badger dropped his arms. "Ooohhh."

 **II**.

Two figures watched the sun set over the desert.

"Where will you go?" Rafiki turned to Kion in great concern.

"Wherever the wind takes me... y'know, cause Kopa will be causing it. Or Grandpa."

The mandrill's look was serious.

"Honestly, I don't know Rafiki." Kion was smiling, a little bittersweet now. He hadn't done it for so long in a _very_ long time. "But wherever it is I'm going, I'm happy." The lion looked at the wrinkled primate. "For the first time things are exactly the way they're supposed to be."

"You were meant to be here," Rafiki told him heavily.

"Maybe," Kion considered this. "But I know now that I can choose who I want to be."

"What I mean is..." The mandrill placed his hand on Kion's shoulder. "I see so much of-,"

Kion hugged him with both arms. Rafiki sighed and tossed his stick aside, returning it.

"I know," The lion wiped at his eyes with the back of his paw and stepped away.

Rafiki touched his face dearly.

"Tell Grandfather..."

The mandrill nodded, smiling. "He knows, Kion, and he loves you."

"Yeah, I know."

Rafiki was so proud of him. "Go on, my son," he held out his hand grandly. "If it is another's blessing you seek, you have it. Go and live your life, Kion, knowing that you will always be loved and never forgotten. And tell Kopa... we never forgot to love and remember him. We would have come, if we'd known it was safe for him. Go in peace." Kion nodded his thanks.

"Bunga told me you never gave up on me."

"Just like you never gave up on Kopa." Rafiki returned. "Or us," he added softly.

"Goodbye, Rafiki." Kion bowed his head in respect, knowing this was true.

The lion cub then jumped down from atop the ridged bluff and ran down the sandy slope.

Rafiki watched as Kion raced along the sun's fading trail and on into the gathering darkness.

 _"Forgiveness,"_ A quiet whisper drifted through the wind as the lion's form melded into red.

The End.


End file.
